Niamey (Niger) (AFP) – Niger’s junta said Tuesday it had freed around 50 people, including ministers from the government it toppled in July 2023, in line with recommendations of a “national conference” in February.

Those freed include former ministers, a diplomat, a journalist and soldiers accused of a coup bid in 2010. However ousted former president Mohamed Bazoum is still in detention despite international calls for his release.

“These individuals are being released in accordance with the recommendations of the National Forum for Reconstruction,” the government’s general secretariat said in a statement read on public television.

Those released include former oil minister Mahamane Sani Issoufou, the son of ex-president Mahamadou Issoufou who was in power for a decade from 2011, ex-defence minister Kalla Moutari, former finance minister Ahmat Jidoud, and former energy minister Ibrahim Yacoubou.

The president of the PNDS former ruling party, Foumakoye Gado, and journalist Ousmane Toudou are also among those freed along with Alat Mogaskia, former ambassador to Nigeria.

They were arrested after the coup that brought to power General Abdourahamane Tiani, former head of the presidential guard, and were being held in various prisons, notably for “conspiracy to undermine the security and authority of the state”.

Similar charges are pending against former president Bazoum, whose immunity was lifted without a trial date being set.

Soldiers previously convicted of coup bids or “endangering state security” were also released, including general Salou Souleymane, former chief of staff, and three other officers sentenced in 2018 to up to 15 years in prison for trying to overthrow president Issoufou in 2015.